2019 Annual Report Table of Contents
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2019 Annual Report Table of Contents 03 A Message from the Artistic + Executive Directors 04 Message from the Chair of the Board 05 2019 Artistic Activity 11 Soulpepper by the numbers 13 2019 Media Coverage 19 Youth Programming + Community Engagement 22 Summarized Financial Statements 25 Your Support 31 Soulpepper + Young Centre Staff We believe that stories are timeless, made powerful by the storytellers who tell them, and kept eternal by all of us who experience them. We commit to sharing vital stories for today, both old and new; those that explore our ideals and complexities, and those that disrupt and break ground by challenging us to dream bigger, think deeper, and leap forward with renewed purpose. We promise to present work of the highest artistic excellence, that entertains, provokes, transforms, and stirs the soul. We invite you to celebrate with us what it means to be human, by welcoming all people and all voices, from all communities, both on and off the stage. - Soulpepper 3 A Message from the Artistic + Executive Directors We are delighted to share with you the Annual Report that records and reflects upon the first full year of our leadership. Turning the page into a new chapter of a company’s life brings with it a sense of adrenaline, an appetite for boldness, and a hunger for new ideas. That energy encouraged us towards a set of commitments that, we hope, will come to define our future work: • That Soulpepper will be a radically inclusive company, with a program that speaks to the diversity of our city; • That pay equity will ensure our growing ensemble is a welcoming and fair place for all artists; • And that we will do all we can to remove price as a barrier to participa- tion, with tickets free for those aged 25 and under, and $25 tickets avail- able to the public for all performances. These initiatives, and more, are captured in a new Strategic Plan, which was developed in partnership with artists, staff, and board, and is available to read on our website. We are thankful to Alan Dilworth for having programmed the year during his tenure as Interim Artistic Director, and it gave us real joy to deliver on such significant steps forward for the company, including Soulpepper’s first full length musical,Rose , and first Indigenous-led production,Almighty Voice and His Wife. It was with enormous excitement that we gathered with our community in October to launch our 2020 program; and was with enormous sadness that much of that work was eventually suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless, 2019 was a year of momentum which will energise us long into the future. Weyni Mengesha Emma Stenning Artistic Director Executive Director 4 Message from the Chair of the Board In 2019 we built on the work begun in 2018 and it felt like Soulpepper was emerging from its cocoon. We started the year welcoming Weyni Mengesha as Artistic Director and along with Executive Director, Emma Stenning, they began to build their dynamic relationship. It is no coincidence that Box Office and critical success followed throughout the year. Executive leadership, staff, artists and the Board developed the company’s Five-Year Strategic Plan which presents an exciting vision for Soulpepper that is challenging yet achievable. It was developed through consultation with many stakeholders and was approved by the Board in November. Repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic will likely delay achievement of some goals, or modify how we get there, but we are resolved to continue to work to fulfil our ambition. We welcomed several new directors to the Board throughout the year and I’d like to express my appreciation to those board members who have retired. We continue to have a dedicated and enthusiastic Board and membership is increasingly more diverse, but we acknowledge we have further work to do to become truly representative of the city. While challenging times lay ahead, I’m reminded that the values of this company have always been Excellence, Innovation, Inclusion and Belonging. With those as our guideposts, we can navigate any storm, and emerge stronger. Vanessa Morgan Board Chair 2019 Artistic Activity Mainstage Productions, Concerts, Recordings, and New Play Development Mac Fyfe and Leah Doz in A Streetcar Named Desire 2019 ARTISTIC ACTIVITY - MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS AND CONCERTS 6 Bahia Watson Hailey Gillis John Millard “2019 felt like Jonathan Ellul a turning point, at least in Toronto, where we saw Weyni Mengesha, an Ethiopian- Canadian (and a first-rate director) take the helm at Soulpepper, THE VIRGIN TRIAL ROSE the city’s leading Originally produced by the Stratford Festival Music and Book: Mike Ross Writer: Kate Hennig Lyrics and Book: Sarah Wilson public theatre” Director: Alan Dilworth Adapted from: Gertrude Stein’s The World is Round - The Globe and Mail Director: Gregory Prest World Premiere Alex McCooeye Alice Snaden Diego Matamoros Gregory Prest Raquel Duffy Kawa Ada Maev Beaty LITTLE MENACE: WEDDING AT AULIS COPENHAGEN PINTER PLAYS Writer: Sina Gilani Writer: Michael Frayn Adapted from: Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripides Director: Katrina Darychuk Writer: Harold Pinter Director: Alan Dilworth Director: Thomas Moschopoulos World Premiere 2019 ARTISTIC ACTIVITY - MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS AND CONCERTS 7 Mazin Elsadig Grace Thompson Yan Liu Daren A. Herbert Samson Brown Dawn Jani Birley THE BROTHERS SIZE WELCOME TO THE BLACK DRUM Writer: Tarell Alvin McCraney MY UNDERWORLD Soulpepper Presents: A Canadian Cultural Society Director: Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu of the Deaf Production Soulpepper presents: A RARE Theatre Production Writer: Adam Pottle Writers: Welcome To My Underworld Ensemble Director: Mira Zuckermann Director: Judith Thompson World Premiere World Premiere Maev Beaty Mike Ross Cara Gee Nancy Palk Bill King Eion Bailey AUGUST: 88 KEYS FOOL FOR LOVE OSAGE COUNTY Creators: Tom Allen and Mike Ross Writer: Sam Shepard Writer: Tom Allen Director: Frank Cox-O’Connell Writer: Tracy Letts Arranger & Director: Mike Ross Director: Jackie Maxwell World Premiere 2019 ARTISTIC ACTIVITY - MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS AND CONCERTS 8 Adam Warner, Scott Hunter, Diego Matamoros Virgilia Griffith Divine Brown, and Mike Ross Huse Madhavji Ryan Hollyman Oliver Dennis THE PROMISED ART BETRAYAL LAND: STEINBECK Writer: Yasmina Reza Writer: Harold Pinter Translator: Christopher Hampton Director: Andrea Donaldson THROUGH SONG Director: Philip Akin Creators: Esther Jun, Mike Ross, and Sarah Wilson Narration Arrangement: Sarah Wilson Musical Arrangement: Mike Ross Director: Esther Jun World Premiere Amy Rutherford James Dallas Smith SATE, Mike Ross, Raha Javanfar Mac Fyfe Michaela Washburn Alana Bridgewater, and Frank Cox-O’Connell A STREETCAR ALMIGHTY VOICE THE RIVERBOAT NAMED DESIRE AND HIS WIFE COFFEE HOUSE Writer: Tennessee Williams Writer: Daniel David Moses Creators: Frank Cox-O’Connell and Mike Ross Director: Weyni Mengesha Director: Jani Lauzon Writter & Director: Frank Cox-O’Connell Arrangements by Mike Ross 2019 ARTISTIC ACTIVITY - MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS AND CONCERTS 9 Joseph Zieglar Ensemble Lindsay Goodtimes Lucien Duncan-Reid Holly Treddenick A CHRISTMAS PETER PAN TWEET TWEET! CAROL Soulpepper Presents: A Bad Hats Theatre Production Soulpepper Presents: A Femmes du Feu Creation Writer: J.M. Barrie Co-Creators: Lindsay Goodtimes, Holly Treddenick, Writer: Charles Dickens Adaptors: Fiona Sauder and Reanne Spitzer and Monica Dottor Adaptor & Director: Michael Shamata Music: Landon Doak Director: Monica Dottor Director: Severn Thompson 2019 ARTISTIC ACTIVITY - PLAY DEVELOPMENT, WORKSHOPS, AND AUDIO RECORDINGS Play Development & Workshops DE PROFUNDIS Book: Gregory Prest “Welcoming Lyrics: Sarah Wilson ALICE MUNRO PROJECT Music: Mike Ross artists into our Playwright: Frank Cox-O’Connell Cast: Damien Atkins and Anthony MacMahon company always Director & Adaptor: Frank Cox-O’Connell Set Designer: Shannon Lea Doyle FOREIGN TONGUES Cast: Jenny Young and Araya Mengesha Playwright: Cynthia Ashperger opens up new Dramaturg: Guillermo Verdecchia opportunities for BREMERHAVEN Playwright: Gregory Prest GONERIL collaboration and Director: Gregory Prest Playwright: Erin Shields Dramaturg: Paula Wing Dramaturg: Guillermo Verdecchia Musician: Tatjana Cornij creative growth, Cast: Nancy Palk, Oliver Dennis, Bill Webster, Diana Leblanc, Walter Borden, Hallie Seline, GUILLAUME COTE PROJECT and I’m excited to and Paolo Santalucia Creators: Guillaume Cote, Michael Levine, and Weyni Mengesha see what we CHOPIN Playwright: Leah Cherniak, HANNAH MOSCOVITCH PROJECT and Martha Ross create together” Playwright: Hannah Moscovitch Director: Leah Cherniak - Weyni Mengesha, Set Designer: Ken MacKenzie Artistic Director Choreographer: Monica Dottor ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU Transcription: Rae Maitland Adaptors: Raquel Duffy, Stage Manager: Sandi Becker Ken MacKenzie, and Gregory Prest Musician: Sarah Hagen Cast: Oliver Dennis, Maggie Huculak, Rick Roberts, Hailey Gillis, Jenny Young, Derek Kwan, and Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah 2019 ARTISTIC ACTIVITY - PLAY DEVELOPMENT, WORKSHOPS, AND AUDIO RECORDINGS 10 Thompson Egbo-Egbo A PARLIAMENT OF BIRDS WOMEN IN CLOTHES Meher Pavri Playwright: Guillermo Verdecchia Playwright: Michael Shamata Director: Soheil Parsa and Paula Wing Composer:Suba Sankaran Cast: Akosua Amo-Adem, Jenny Young, Catherine Fitch, Stage Manager: Laura Baxter Alicia Richardson, and Anita Majumdar Cast: Raoul Bhaneja, Oliver Dennis, Sabryn Rock, Derek Kwan, Deb Drakeford, Augusto Bitter, Katherine Gauthier, Richard Lee, Akosua Amo-Adem, Audio Recordings in 2019 and Jani